Losing 46 billion to gain 240 million users, did JD.com make a profit or a loss?

Listing | Damo Finance

On March 6, JD.com (9618.HK) stock price rose 9.95% to HKD 106.60 per share, with a total market value of approximately HKD 340 billion.

Behind the sharp increase in stock price, JD.com just delivered a report card showing revenue growth. In 2025, JD.com achieved operating revenue of 1.31 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.0%. This is the fastest revenue growth JD has seen in nearly four years.

However, JD.com’s profit performance has been declining. In 2025, the company’s operating profit was 2.8 billion yuan, down 92.8% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders was 19.63 billion yuan, down 52.5%. In the same year, the company’s free cash flow dropped to 6.48 billion yuan, a plunge of 85.2%.

Looking only at Q4 2025, JD.com achieved revenue of 352.28 billion yuan, up 1.5% year-on-year; net loss attributable to shareholders was 2.71 billion yuan, turning from profit to loss compared to the previous year.

Over the past year, JD.com has been actively expanding externally: delivering food, opening Qishuan small kitchens, entering the hotel and travel industry, and collaborating with GAC and CATL to launch a “national good car” priced under 50,000 yuan. To develop new businesses, JD.com has spent heavily over the past year, with new business operating losses exceeding 46 billion yuan in 2025, expanding more than 15 times compared to the previous year. This has also led to a significant decline in the company’s profitability in 2025.

In 2025, JD.com also faced pressure in the capital market, with its stock price falling nearly 20% since the beginning of the year.

Of course, JD.com has achieved some success through “burning money” to capture market share. Data from JD’s food delivery service shows that in its first year online, 240 million users placed orders, accounting for 15% of the food delivery market. In 2026, JD plans to consolidate and develop its food delivery business while leveraging it to drive further growth in e-commerce.

New Business Lost 46 Billion Yuan

Entering the food delivery market and launching the “food delivery war” was JD.com’s most notable move in 2025.

Last February, JD.com officially launched its food delivery service, marking one year since its inception. During this year, JD successfully secured a foothold in the food delivery market, with a market share of 15%. However, to boost growth, JD invested heavily, resulting in substantial losses in its new business.

In 2025, JD’s new businesses (including food delivery, JX, and overseas e-commerce) achieved a total revenue of 49.28 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 157.3%, but the operating loss of these new businesses reached 46.64 billion yuan, more than 15 times the 2.87 billion yuan loss in the previous year.

Overall, the loss situation of JD’s new businesses aligns with the development pattern of the “food delivery war” last year. In Q1, JD just entered the food delivery market with relatively limited investment, and the loss was about 1.33 billion yuan.

By Q2 and Q3, JD began aggressively “burning money” to seize market share, with Meituan and Taobao Flash Sale quickly responding, and the “food delivery war” intensifying. Under this scenario, JD’s new business losses surged to 14.78 billion yuan and 15.74 billion yuan in Q2 and Q3 respectively, impacting overall profitability.

In Q4 last year, the “food delivery war” cooled down, and JD’s new business losses narrowed to 14.80 billion yuan quarter-on-quarter. During the earnings call, JD CFO Dan Su stated that JD Food Delivery’s Q4 losses narrowed by nearly 20% quarter-on-quarter.

However, as subsidies receded and losses narrowed, revenue from JD’s new businesses also declined quarter-on-quarter. In Q4 last year, revenue from new businesses was about 14.09 billion yuan, down approximately 9.7% quarter-on-quarter.

Against this backdrop, how will JD Food Delivery develop in the new year?

JD.com CEO Xu Ran believes that JD Food Delivery has certain differentiated advantages: first, maintaining a “quality food delivery” positioning; second, relying on a full-time rider team to provide higher-quality service; third, leveraging JD’s ecosystem synergy and supply chain advantages.

JD Food Delivery also hopes to gradually realize commercialization and monetization next year. Xu Ran said that if market competition remains stable, the total investment in food delivery in 2026 will decrease compared to 2025.

However, JD Food Delivery’s official WeChat account previously stated that it aims to reach a 30% market share in 2026. With expectations of cost reduction and expansion needs, JD Food Delivery may still face challenges in 2026.

E-commerce Remains the Main Growth Driver

While new business expansion is making a lot of noise, JD’s traditional e-commerce business is quietly generating profits.

JD’s e-commerce business mainly consists of two parts: electronics and home appliances, and daily necessities. JD started with digital 3C products and began developing daily necessities in 2008.

In 2025, these two segments together generated revenue of 1.02 trillion yuan, a 10.3% increase year-on-year. Among them, electronics and home appliances grew 7.1% to 605.13 billion yuan, and daily necessities increased 15.3% to 418.67 billion yuan.

As JD’s highest revenue contributor, the growth of electronics and home appliances last year mainly depended on national subsidies.

In 2025, the central government allocated 300 billion yuan in ultra-long-term special treasury bonds for consumer goods replacement (“national subsidies”). Driven by these subsidies, sales in home appliances and kitchenware rebounded significantly. The State Administration of Taxation’s latest data shows that in 2025, retail sales of daily household appliances, kitchen and bathroom products, and communication equipment increased by 17.4%, 12.9%, and 18.6% respectively year-on-year.

With the help of subsidies, JD’s digital 3C business grew rapidly. In Q1 and Q2 2025, revenue from electronics and home appliances was 144.3 billion yuan and 178.98 billion yuan, respectively, up 17.1% and 23.4%. However, since Q3 last year, as subsidies receded, revenue growth slowed, with Q3 increasing 4.9% to 128.59 billion yuan, and Q4 decreasing 12.0% to 153.27 billion yuan year-on-year.

Compared to digital 3C, the growth of JD’s daily necessities business has been steadier, with double-digit growth in all four quarters last year.

Amid JD’s heavy spending to develop new businesses, the steady growth of daily necessities has become a key pillar for the company’s performance. To further boost this segment, JD launched the “Hundred Billion Supermarket” channel in February, planning to invest over 20 billion yuan in product subsidies over the next three years. The “Hundred Billion Supermarket” covers JD Supermarket’s existing categories such as snacks, fresh food, alcohol, beverages, as well as household cleaning, personal care, maternity, and pet supplies.

JD stated that the subsidy strength of “Hundred Billion Supermarket” will surpass that of other categories, making it the most heavily subsidized product category in JD’s Hundred Billion channel.

While vigorously expanding food delivery, JD has also introduced subsidies for daily necessities to leverage the traffic from food delivery to boost traditional business.

Xu Ran expressed confidence in the growth of the daily necessities segment in 2026, citing three core drivers: first, huge market potential; second, continuous strengthening of supply chain capabilities and user awareness; third, ongoing user growth. Food delivery, JX, and other services bring new traffic and users to the platform, increase shopping frequency, and internal platform collaboration accelerates, with good cross-purchase effects between supermarkets, food delivery users, and other categories.